Ko Jeong-un (1)
The unattended cafe in Indeogwon-dong, Dongan District, Anyang, Gyeonggi Province.
Even after Lee Min-su left, Kang-hae remained seated.
Why did they kill Lee Na-yeon...?
Because they found out about the external drive...?
His thoughts chased one another in a tightening circle.
And then it occurred to him that what they were after now might be the external drive itself.
If they want the external drive more than they want me...
After that thought, Kang-hae got to his feet.
Instead of going home, he took a taxi to SmartFix in Daerim-dong.
He was preparing for every possible outcome.
“What brings you by this time...?”
The owner of SmartFix gave a pained look when he saw Kang-hae appear in the office.
“I need an external drive with a GPS tracker installed in it.”
“An external drive?”
“Yes.”
“We do have GPS trackers... but an external drive...”
“You’ve got technicians.”
“We do. There are companies that specialize in that sort of thing, but...”
“...?”
“The cost...”
Kang-hae stared at the SmartFix owner in silence.
And under that gaze, the owner felt an indescribable killing intent roll off him.
He hurriedly changed the subject.
“I-I mean, it can’t be that expensive...! I’ll look into it right away.”
He took out his phone and called someone.
“Hey, Boss Jung. It’s me. I need you to make me one external drive with a GPS tracker installed. How long will it take? Two hours? Can’t you do it faster? Just make it as fast as possible. And when it’s done, send it by courier immediately.”
The owner ended the call.
“He says it’ll take about two hours.”
Kang-hae continued to stare at him in silence.
“Why... do you need something else too...?”
“Do you have any weapons.”
“Weapons...?”
“Yes.”
That was the other reason Kang-hae had come to SmartFix.
“We did get a few Russian rifles in...”
“Bring them out.”
The SmartFix owner opened an iron drawer.
From inside, he pulled out a duffel bag and carried it over.
Swish—
A padlock hung from the zipper.
The owner unlocked it and opened the bag.
Inside were pistols, drones, explosives, and a number of other items.
“Looks like they came from Russia.”
“Yes. Since the war’s still going on there, a lot of Russian-made goods are getting out onto the market.”
Kang-hae closed the bag and locked it again.
“I guess there’s nothing you don’t need.”
A faint smile touched the SmartFix owner’s face.
“I’m taking it all.”
But the moment he heard Kang-hae’s answer, his face went pale.
“Y-you can’t possibly mean... th-that you’re taking all of it...?”
“Yes.”
“N-no, that’s not possible...! Do you know how much that’s worth...!”
Kang-hae did not answer. He only glared at him.
And the SmartFix owner, looking on the verge of tears, said, “I really had a hard time getting that stuff...”
“Hey, private investigator.”
“Yes...?”
“I haven’t forgotten that you tried to get the National Security Office Director and me killed in Bukhansan.”
“...”
At the reminder of the past, the owner fell silent.
Then, ignoring the man’s resentful stare, Kang-hae lay down on the sofa.
Two hours later.
The items Kang-hae had ordered were delivered to the SmartFix office.
He gathered them up and headed back to the goshiwon where he lived.
When he reached the entrance, Kang-hae stepped out of sight of the CCTV and took a pistol from the duffel bag.
Then he locked the bag again and dropped it into the unattended parcel locker installed at the goshiwon entrance.
After that, he went to his room.
He opened the door slowly.
The towel and socks he had scattered on the floor before leaving were all still where he had left them, and the clothes hangers in the closet had not been disturbed.
There was no sign that anyone had come in.
Kang-hae set the external drive on the desk.
Then he put the pistol beneath his pillow and tried to sleep.
The next morning, Kang-hae received a call from Detective Lee Min-seong of the Gangnam Police Station Violent Crimes Unit 2.
“Yes, this is just to follow up. One of our staff checked the CCTV at the goshiwon where Na Kang-hae is staying early yesterday morning. At that same time, we also confirmed records showing that the original informant, Kim Min-ju, had been in contact with the deceased Lee Na-yeon.”
The attitude that had treated Kang-hae as a suspect the previous evening was gone without a trace.
His tone was respectful now.
As Seong Ha-yeong had said, Kang-hae felt firsthand just how immense the power of a South Korean conglomerate really was.
“So that’s the end of it.”
“Yes. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
“I have one question.”
“Of course. Please, ask anything.”
“Was there any suspicion of homicide?”
“We’ll have to wait for the National Forensic Service autopsy report, but from what the officers who were dispatched to the scene have said, no special signs of foul play were found.”
“Understood. Good work.”
Kang-hae ended the call there.
At least there would be no more annoying interference from the police.
That was a relief.
Now all that remained was to wait for the people hunting him to make their move.
* * *
Director Ko Jeong-un’s office, National Security Office, Yongsan District, Seoul.
Presidential Chief of Staff Jeong Seong-woo sat on the sofa with a grave expression, reading through a file.
Across from him sat Ko Jeong-un.
“Director... is this really true...?”
Jeong Seong-woo asked as he set the file back down on the desk.
“Yes.”
Ko Jeong-un nodded.
The document Jeong Seong-woo had just read contained the files from the external drive Kang-hae had delivered to Ko Jeong-un.
It was packed full of names of people who had taken bribes when the Jeguk Faction smuggled drugs in from Kaesong Industrial Complex.
“Director.”
“Yes.”
“If this gets out, the fallout will be...”
Jeong Seong-woo trailed off.
Then he sank into thought.
Ko Jeong-un watched him in silence.
Only after a long while did Jeong Seong-woo speak again.
“Director.”
“Yes.”
“This is too big. If it goes wrong, everything this administration is pushing for with North Korea could be thrown away.”
“That does not mean we can ignore a crime like this.”
“Of course. I’m not saying we should bury it. I’m saying we should delay it a little.”
“Delay it?”
“We need to watch the timing. If the shovel’s already in the ground and the cement’s been poured, the project won’t be stopped midway.”
“Crime is not a fermented food. The longer it sits, the more rotten it becomes.”
“Director, the North Korea policy is the one and only chance for Kim Jin-cheol’s government to leave its mark on Korean history. We can’t throw away that opportunity.”
Ko Jeong-un looked at him in silence.
When he had requested a private audience with the president after receiving the external drive from Kang-hae, the president had sent the chief of staff in his place.
And what the chief of staff said now was no different from Kim Jin-cheol’s own intention.
The president was trying to sweep away everything unsavory tied to the old Kaesong Industrial Complex affairs.
“Director, if you want to cross deep waters, your shoes are bound to get wet, and maybe your clothes too. Let’s think about it in a more positive way.”
Jeong Seong-woo’s voice had turned soft and coaxing, a sharp contrast to before.
Ko Jeong-un fell into thought.
* * *
At that same time, NIS Director Hong Gyeong-pyo was reading two reports prepared by his chief of staff.
The first report listed the NIS employees who had been dispatched to Kaesong Industrial Complex when drugs were brought in from North Korea after the Jeguk Faction acquired Han Shin Textile.
Most had left the NIS, but a few were still inside the agency.
And one name in particular stood out.
NIS Second Deputy Director Baek Dong-gyu
At the time, Baek Dong-gyu had been working in Kaesong Industrial Complex under the cover of an employee in the Ministry of Unification’s Industrial Cooperation Support Office.
Hong Gyeong-pyo set the first report down and picked up the second.
It was material related to Kang-hae, an Intelligence Command operative.
From his birth to his school friendships, grades, family background, his evaluation within the Intelligence Command, and even his participation in the top-secret Operation Gale Force, everything was detailed inside.
And on the last page, a top-secret file concerning Na Dong-hae had been attached.
* * *
An office building somewhere in Segok-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul.
In front of a building about three kilometers from the NIS headquarters in Naegok-dong stood a monument engraved with the words Cheonggang Culture Foundation.
And on the fourth floor of that building, the man who had spoken with NIS Second Deputy Director Baek Dong-gyu at Banpo Park the night before was talking on the phone in a neat suit.
[The National Security Office Director has the materials.]
“I see...”
Without a word, the man rubbed at his temple with one hand.
[What are you going to do now?]
“We’ll take care of it.”
[Make sure it’s handled properly.]
“You needn’t worry.”
After ending the call, the man opened his laptop.
Then he opened the presidential office personnel folder.
Inside were files on everyone currently working in the presidential office, organized alphabetically by surname.
The man found Ko Jeong-un’s file and clicked on it.
The file contained everything from Ko Jeong-un’s military record to his family relations, address, and assets.
Known as a rigid soldier; deemed impossible to persuade with money.
The man stared at the phrase in the final evaluation field.
“A true soldier...”
He muttered the words to himself.
Then he rubbed at his temple again.
It was an old habit, one that surfaced whenever he had something on his mind.
After a moment, he called someone.
* * *
Kang-hae spent early mornings out on the streets and did not return until late at night.
He was waiting.
For someone who would come for the external drive sitting on the goshiwon desk, and for someone who might try to eliminate him as well.
One day.
Two days.
Three days.
But by the time three days had passed, nothing had happened.
And on the morning of the fourth day, Kang-hae received a call from Ko Jeong-un asking to meet.
“Then I’ll come to the National Security Office.”
[No. I think it would be better to meet outside, not at the NSO.]
“Then how about Family Park?”
Kang-hae thought of the park near the presidential office where he had once walked with Seong Ha-yeong.
[That works. Then let’s meet at the park entrance at 8:00 p.m. tonight.]
“Understood.”
And so they made the arrangement.
At 7:00 p.m., Kang-hae headed to the park near the presidential office to meet Ko Jeong-un.
It would only take ten minutes by bus from his goshiwon, but Kang-hae deliberately chose to walk.
As he walked, he kept his nerves taut and watched the people around him for anything suspicious.
But he found nothing.
The same was true once he reached the park.
Even while he sat on a bench waiting for Ko Jeong-un to appear, he saw no suspicious faces.
And then the appointed time arrived.
Ten minutes.
Twenty minutes.
Thirty minutes.
Time passed, but Ko Jeong-un did not appear.
Ko Jeong-un had never once been late for an appointment.
He would have called if he was running behind.
Kang-hae tried calling him, but Ko Jeong-un did not answer.
A bad feeling rose all at once.
Kang-hae got up from the bench and headed for the presidential office.
* * *
Presidential Office, Yongsan District, Seoul.
The moment Kang-hae stepped off the elevator on the seventh floor, where the National Security Office was located, he saw a crowd of people gathered in the hallway.
They were from other departments that worked on different floors, and every one of them wore a grave expression.
Kang-hae passed them and entered the National Security Office.
There, in front of the director’s office, were NSO employees and medical staff stationed at the presidential office.
Don’t tell me...
Kang-hae moved toward them slowly.
A military doctor was performing CPR around someone lying on the floor.
It was Ko Jeong-un.